Despite general belief, rattan furniture is not made for outdoor spaces. In fact, it is usually preferred to keep rattan furniture indoors since it fades if exposed to sunlight. This wrong idea comes from the fact that rattan looks similar to wicker. In fact, they are very different and to illustrate its unique characteristics we’ll have a look at a bunch of stylish furniture pieces which capture the beauty and elegance of rattan.

A lovely thing about rattan furniture such as the Nest Lounge is its lightweight design. An armchair like this one would look wonderful in a casual décor, perhaps a beach house or a holiday home where you expect the ambiance to be relaxing.

Belladonna is an elegant piece of furniture designed to resemble a piece originally designed in 1951. it was meant as a decorative piece and its design is simple and versatile enough to fit many different interior decors.

Designer Hiroomi Tahara took advantage of the natural flexibility and the resistance of rattan when designing the Yamakawa Rattan, an elegant and comfortable sofa with a delicate and very chic look. In addition to being beautiful, the sofa is also an eco-friendly piece.

A lot of designs featured by rattan furniture pieces are meant to be eclectic in order to stay versatile and to suit a large variety of spaces. Pieces such as the Cruz lazy chair combine modern lines with classical details such as the hairpin legs and the result is a beautifully balanced and very charming design.

Joe Lounge is an interesting piece designed by Henry Claeys. It puts together vintage and contemporary features to look playful, trendy and informal. An interesting detail is that, even though it loos like a rattan piece, it’s also made of woven paper and chrome-plated steel.

The sculptural design of the Nest poufs and coffee tables was meant to match modern Scandinavian interior design. These pieces stand out thanks to their lightness and elegance. In order to obtain the chair’s sculptural shape, 22 templates were used, the aim being to combine looks and comfort.

The inspiration for the Huma chair is a legendary bird from the Sufi tradition believed to offer a lifetime of happiness whenever someone manages to catch even a glimpse of its shadow. The chair’s design uses rattan to offer great comfort, taking advantage of the material’s flexibility.

Other designs fully embrace the natural charm of rattan as a main material. One such example is E10, an armchair originally designed by Egon Eiermann in 1949. the chair can be complemented by a variety of seat cushions for increased comfort and for diversity.

La Luna is a rattan pouf designed by Kenneth Cobonpue. Its design is simple and yet sophisticated and its name reveals the piece’s subtle connection to the image of the moon. The woven pattern and round shape of the pouf make this a chic accent piece able to fit well in a variety of spaces and settings.

A rattan chair can look great and serve as a comfortable and functional piece of furniture in a lot of different settings. Santa Lucia, for example, is a chair which can look just as charming in a dining room, cafe, home office or on a covered patio. Its backrest is designed to also serve as an armrest, this emphasizing its simplicity and beauty.

A piece of furniture doesn’t have to be entirely crafted of rattan in order to borrow the material’s unique characteristics. In some cases, designs such as the one displayed by the Targa sofa and armchair use rattan as an accent material to highlight a series of contrasts or to harmonize the composition.

The design of the Wrap sofa by Hiroomi Tahara stands out not necessarily because of the choice of materials but mostly because of the way the backrest folds over at the top and then doubles back at an angle. This is a piece meant to showcase the incredible flexibility of rattan.

The Colony is an armchair that combines wood and rattan in a stylish, modern, geometric structure. Both the steam-bent wood and the rattan are flexible materials which allow designers to give their creations wonderful designs which take advantage of these characteristics in a way that increases their comfort.

Indonesia-based firm Studiohiji created a collection which aims at showing the world that rattan furniture can also be modern and very sleek and stylish. Since Indonesia is the world’s largest producer or natural rattan, using this material was a natural choice. The result was a collection composed of simple, elegant and modern pieces with lightweight and colorful designs.

A different way of utilizing rattan’s flexibility and versatility in furniture design is featured by the Ethuil bench. Its design is intricate and complex, resembling a Dentate leaf or a peacock’s tail feathers. The manner in which this image was used in this context creates drama and turns the bench into a focal point.

Other strategies focus on maintaining the rustic charm and appearance of rattan. The Croco series is a wonderful example in this case. It includes a set of cute rattan stools, a table with a rattan base as well as a daybed made from the same versatile and flexible material. Each piece has a unique charm and a handcrafted look.

As versatile and popular as rattan chairs may be, they’re not the only available option when it comes to these materials. Swedish designer Mathieu Gistafsson also found a way to use rattan in the design of a unique cabinet. It’s part of the Grand collection launched in collaboration with furniture manufacturer Niklas Karlsson.

The versatility of rattan is also highlighted by a multitude of accessories which include the material in their design. The Bow bins designed by Cordula Kehrer are half plastic and half rattan. Each design is unique and uses a different color. The bins are hand-made and their unusual designs become a statement of style.

Sweep, on the other hand, is a basket made entirely of rattan. Simplicity is an important part of their design crated by Johannes Foersom and Peter Hiort-Lorenzen MDD. The basket has a round base and an overall very delicate look. Use it for storage in the bedroom, living room or anywhere you want.

But not all rattan baskets have this type of delicate and lightweight appearance. Others are more compact and a good example in this case is the series of Tab1 storage boxes offered by Decor Walther. They can be used as storage trays in a variety of different situations, always adding a rustic touch to the décor wherever they go.

Rattan was also the chosen material for the Ralph table lamp by Team Design. The lamp has an aluminum and brass base and a woven rattan shade which lets light filter through creating beautiful patterns and visual effects. It’s the perfect combination of functional and fashionable.

In case your rattan pieces are not sufficiently charming or need more color, you can treat them as a DIY project. For example, decorate a simple rattan basket with colorful pom-poms if you want it to look a bit more cheerful. You can also wrap colored yarn around its handles. The transformation is described on Designimprovised.

Other examples of simple DIY projects involving rattan accessories can be found Designimprovised. Find out how to decorate trays and baskets using colored yarn and how to turn them into decorations. Use this strategy to update an old woven basket and to change its look into something more suitable for your home’s décor.